Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Annotated Bibliography

Robert Ennis
UNIV 3925
08 AUG 2014
Assignment 3

1.Annotated
Biblography:to identify resources to
inform your project identify 4-6 reliable sources, write them down in APA or
MLA reference list and then annotate to explain why you've chosen the resource
and how it will inform your project.Sources can be research articles, guide books, other academic books,
reliable websites, and reliable people.

• Ennis, William.
Personal interviews. 2005-2014. Hurricane, Utah.- Brother and mentor. This graphic
designer opened a kayak shop in Hurricane, and has improved health by living in
a physically-exhaustive profession.

• Ilardi, Stephen.
“Depression is a Disease of Civilization”: Stephen Ilardi at TEDxEmory. TED,
2013. Web access through www.youtube.com/watch?v=drv3BP0Fdi8.
Web access July 2014.
- This professor of clinical psychology has served at numerous universities and
applies anthropological methods to analysis of depression, and has come up with
the foundation for my project: to live better by understanding and applying
evolutionarily-responsible behavioral modification to individuals to cure
psychological diseases caused by modern phenomena.

2.Describe the geography of the
area you will be in for your project.If
you are going to multiple places, give an overview of each.
As I will be exploring my surroundings, which include up to all of Southern
Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, the geography of the area of interest is mostly
desert, but includes some rainforest in Zion National Park; swamplands in St.
George; and this region features a wealth of geographical features in a
relatively compacted radius. (Kappele, 1). Hurricane is home to Quail Creek
Reservoir and Sand Hollow Reservoir: both artificial bodies of water, which
have become home to migratory waterfowl including herons and seagulls (William Ennis interviews). In this area
there are sandstone cliffs, lava ridges, caves, rivers, desert plains, grassy
meadows and farmlands. Southern Utah is unusually diverse in its geographical
diversity, which should make it fun to explore in greater detail.

3.Common plants and
animals:what plants and animals are you
expecting to be in the area?Describe
3-5 plants and 3-5 animals.
In my limited exploration of the region, I have seen juniper trees, and oaks on
the mountainside. Along the valley floor I’ve seen sagebrush and ericameria nauseosa, or “rabbit brush”.
While kayaking with my brother, William Ennis, I’ve seen eared grebes with
garnet-red eyes; and he pointed out the nesting grounds of herons between the
fingerlike isthmuses at Quail Creek Reservoir. I’m certain to see families of deer
lurking at night along the back-roads of Cedar or Toquerville. Another question
to ask, in this case, would be “how often do you see these wild things?” The
answer might be “Not nearly enough.”

4.What significant human
history has taken place in your project area?
Two weeks ago I drove up to the Parowan Gap, and saw questionably old
petroglyphs. More than a few were in English, which casts some doubt on the
origins of other markings. And a little further to the south, near Enterprise,
there was an event that reverberates in Utah’s history to this day: the
so-called “Mountain Meadows Massacre”.A
memorial for it may be found by doing as follows: “on Utah Highway 18, drive
4.7 miles to the well-marked turnoff to the site.” (Kappele, 17). It is nearly
impossible to avoid the religious and political history of the area, but my
objectives are not about other people and their histories. In this celebration
of primitive self-improvement, I want to improve and analyze my own ability to
relate to my inhuman surroundings;
and to bring back that elixir to my people.

5.How is the land used today?
Utah is home to about 2.9 million people, according to the U.S. Census. With the
region’s inculcated drive towards self-sufficiency, many industries can be
seen: mining for metals in Iron County, and livestock ranching just off the
highway. The Center for American Progress decries the parceling of land for
mining and oil-drilling, and while those do contribute to only 2% of the local
workforce, those resources literally fuel many other jobs (American Progress, but cited with an opposing viewpoint). Just off
the highways one can see quarries,

6.How is the land managed?Please be sure you list who manages the land
and the most significant management issues in the area.
The majority of my exploratory and immersive objectives rest in the purview of
the Bureau of Land Management, or are federally-owned lands. According to the
Center For American Progress, the Bush-Administration produced so-called
“Master Leasing Plans” which paved the way for environmental hazards caused by
drilling and mining on that leased land (American
Progress). I’ve also heard a lot of noise about water rights, especially
with regard to California verging on a natural disaster with drought. I will be
focusing my efforts on exploring the wild lands, managed by federal and state
agencies. On these, water management is of paramount importance; though in the
more tourist-oriented areas such as Zion National Park, maintaining a
moderately pristine wilderness paradise is key.

7.What type of area will you be
in?Describe the environment in terms of
desert, grassland, forest, etc.
If I play my cards right, I can trade some design work time for kayaking time
down at Quail Creek Reservoir at William Ennis’ shop, “Dig Paddlesports”.
Locally, OEC kayaks could be taken to the pond at the south end of town. Lake Quitchipah
seems to rarely have more than a few inches of water anywhere, which makes it a
little hard to boat in. As winter comes on, I intend to bundle up and use the
padding effect of the snow to my advantage in medium-distance, high-intensity offroad
jogs. This is aligned with a goal of increasing of range, frequency and
duration of personal expeditions in spite of adverse terrain and weather.

8.What do you like and dislike
about the area?
I come from near sea-level. I spent my sedentary youth there. Here, the terrain
is wide and vast, varied and rugged. Instead of going on mind-numbing runs in
the city, I can work up a sweat by skipping along trails while looking for
fossils and minerals. I can try weekend camp-outs. I despise and fear camping,
and I’d like to overcome that… I believe it is the risk of isolation that
deters me; and I wish to obviate that. According to William Kappele in
Rockhounding Utah, this area boasts an incredibly low population rate in the
outlying areas. He notes, “Wayne, Millard, Kane, Garfield, and Daggett counties
had a density of only 1 person per square mile… This makes for uncrowded
rockhounding, but when you are out in the boondocks, you had better take your
lunch and have a full tank of gas. (Kappele,
1)” If I want to get away from it all, this area is perfect. On the other
hand, if I should suddenly develop agoraphobia while hiking precipitous cliffs,
it may be difficult to get back into a bustling crowd of humans. There are
certain happy limitations to this de-civilization process. According to Prof.
Stephen Ilardi, the highlanders of Papual New Guinea enjoy happiness, in some part,
because they are able to violently oppose those who offend them without risk of
external legal ramifications. Their actions are directly consequential, and they
would face incarceration and worse for the same actions in this country. My
objectives have nothing to do with uncompassionate savagery, and everything to
do with mindful reintegration with nature.

9.What experience have you had
in the area?Years ago I was in pretty good shape. I lived in St. George for a while, and
I went dancing, running, and sometimes kayaking out on the lake. I was
generally a homebody, embedded in college life and professional work. When I
got married, I came to Cedar to work and help put my wife through school. I
became profoundly depressed, stuck at work, and became totally obese. I first
hiked Cedar Mountain last year, about a month after my wife left me. At the
time I was technically bedridden with pneumonia, almost too weak to walk. Yet, I
made an extraordinarily willful move: I
took a hike. I got about halfway up the mountain, and was nearly dead by
the time I got home. It was worth it. I could already feel my depression
lifting. I had rediscovered a profound connection between environmental
exploration and happiness, which I had lost for some years. That led to
increased interest in research on the nature of happiness, which has led
directly to this outdoor project. I have reason to believe that outdoor
engagement is crucial for all individual human health and happiness, and that
happier people contribute to a more creative and healthy society.